Selling woodworking tools on ebay - any pointers...

I think this is on topic - sort of
Before I jump in I was hoping some of you would have a few good pointers and
or info.
I want to sell some woodworking tools on ebay but don't know much about the
service with respect to selling.
I want to have at least two pictures per item - does ebay provide a good
service to allow posting of pics or should I go with an other service or am
I allowed to direct browsers to my webspace...
I don't plan to put on a reserve or high starting bid but(!) some of the
items I just can't part with for "nothing." Can I withdraw an item if the
bidding is too low?
And in your experience what's the best way to list.
Thx Mat

and
the
am
Posting more than one image costs you extra.
You can make a HTML page as your ebay auction page and imbed links to images
freely though if you have those images hosted elsewhere.
Reserve will ensure you get what you are after, but again it costs to set a
reserve but often worth it. Sometimes you get a good price without a reserve
and it can attract more bidders, but other times you just dont get the price
you wanted.
You can only withdraw an item if there are no bids on it.
--
Regards,
Dean Bielanowski
Editor,
Online Tool Reviews
http://www.onlinetoolreviews.com
Over 50 woodworking product reviews online!
------------------------------------------------------------
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------------------------------------------------------------

That may be the official rules, but they are not enforced. My wife was
furious when she was bidding on an item and it was withdrawn and sold
privately. She complained loud and long to ebay. They did nothing.
The real rules on ebay are the seller ratings.
Bob

Greetings and Salutations...
Well, in general, my pointer would be to
try and ensure that you sell them for more than
you paid for them...or at least a chunk of what
you paid for them.
Don't make up the difference in shipping
and handling costs.
DO make sure to reply promptly to emails
from your customers.
DO make sure to send out reminder Emails
promptly.
DO make sure to send tracking information
when available...even if they don't ask.
On Mon, 31 May 2004 11:46:24 GMT, "Bob Davis"

I suspect that IF Ebay bothered to ask the seller about
this situation, the reply was that someone else had been looking
at it, had dropped it and damaged it, so the seller had done the
"right" thing - cancelled all the pending bids and withdrawn
the auction. That, I believe, would fall within the rules.
Now...if the seller was LYING and, indeed, sold the thing
out from under y'all....that sucks...but is life. I agree that
Ebay really does not care. After all, why should they? They get
paid huge amounts of cash for not too much work, and there are
no regulations that would make them responsible.
The good news is...although I suspect it is hard for your
wife to do...that she can chill out, as there will be another one
come along, and, she likely will get it for a better price than
the first one.
For Buyers...it is REALLY GOOD to remember that the item
you are bidding on is NOT YOURS. So...the other bidders are not
trying to take it away from you, like little babies in a playpen
grabbing toys. If one gets too much of an emotional commitment
to an item on Ebay...one WILL pay way too much for it. This is
hard to do...but an excellent way to play the game.

Well, "rules" might be a bit strong. However, that is
becoming a problem too, thanks to the fact that Ebay allows
sellers to hold their feedback hostage until the buyer gives
THEM feedback. I don't recall if it was a rule, or custom in
the early days of Ebay that pushed a seller to leave feedback
for the buyer at the time that the seller shipped the item. In
any case, if it was a rule, it is one that has been quietly
changed, and, if it was JUST custom...I think it ought to BE
a rule. After all, In this transaction, the buyer has fulfilled
his or her part of the bargain at the point that the seller has
received payment and is shipping the item. It only seems fair
to me that is the point that feedback should be left for the buyer.
Now...feedback for the seller SHOULD wait until the buyer has
received the item and determined if all is ok.
However, in way too many cases these days, the seller
will not leave feedback until they have received feedback from
the buyer. Way too often, the seller's feedback has NOTHING
to do with the buyer's performance in the deal, but, is retribution
for negative feedback the buyer leaves. Is that right or fair?
I don't think so. Also, I have had some sellers tell me that they
don't leave feedback for a buyer UNLESS that buyer leaves feedback for
them. This seems wrong to me too, as that is not part of the feedback
"deal". However, I suppose it is "legal" as a quick look at the
confusing maze of EBAY POLICIES does not turn up any requirements
other than that the feedback not fall into the illegal area.
Of course, the sellers squeal like stuck
pigs at the thought that they should lose this advantage of being
able to hold feedback hostage. However, I would be happy to allow the
feedback to be expanded, to allow sellers to go back and add
commentary to existing feedback in any case (not just negative
feedback) to help deal with this situation. The feedback mechanism is
flexible, after all. Look at the recently implimented policy of Ebay
to allow seller and buyer to mutually agree to withdraw feedback.
That is both a big change and a new one.
In any case, Ebay is a strange place in its own way,
and while it can be a great help, it has, alas, become less user
friendly than it used to be, and, more of a money vacuum for
folks out West.
Regards
dave mundt

looks up, sees the word tools in the subject line and nods
approvingly...

Okee dokee.

It is set up so anyone at the shallow end of the gene pool
is at an automatic disadvantage.

I think the eBay supplied service is good enough providing
the original (your picture) isn't real shitty.

No you cannot. Per the eBay rules once a bid is placed you
legally have to sell it. Now that's not to say that you
can't put a reserve on it and identify within the
description what the reserve is.

Got a minute?
Let's start with The Three eBay Kisses of Death.
TeKoD No. 1: Bad description.
Take a moment or two to examine the item. Note the maker.
Note the pertinent data like how big it is, motor
horsepower, motor phase, when it was made and condition, to
name a couple/few. No really. You wouldn't believe the
number of people who are selling "this tool, I don't quite
know what it does". In other words, you cannot over
describe something.
TeKoD No. 2: No picture.
It's 2004, buy a digital. But don't stop there. Crop the
picture when you're done. I mean, we really don't need to
see your kitty cat in the picture or your cousin Ralph in
the background scratching his balls. No really, there's an
auction running now and there's this dork in the background
frozen in time mid-ball grab.
Rotate the picture if it needs to be rotated. I mean, eBay
even has this feature in the upload part of the process and
people just don't seem to care.
Don't put the piece in the door of the garage and shoot it
from the inside looking out. It's called back light and it
pretty much screws up the meter and that means you won't be
getting a decent shot.
Don't shoot with harsh light that creates shadows. Best to
shoot on an overcast day.
Go find a 'frigerator box (if you have big stuff) and cut it
open. Place this behind the item. Again, we don't need to
be seeing anything other than the item.
Clean it. Doesn't mean you need it showroom shiney, just
that you want to maximize the return and while you're at it,
don't shoot the shot with a bunch of other shit strung
over/on the item.
TeKoD No. 3: Pick up only.
Now granted, this one does sometimes need to be adhered to
but if you figure that someone out there reeeeeeeeeeeeeally
wants it and is willing to pay to have it shipped you might
as well accommodate them if you can.
Now, here's a pointer they don't tell you about anywhere
else. Boxes. I try and make sure I have a "proper" box for
something before I list it. To this end I've found a local
business that throws away boxes by the hunnerts and I'll
swing by there every week or so to see if they have anything
that looks good. I typically horde a few dozen at a time.
Your local supermarket or hardware stores are also good
sources. Find out when they get their weekly deliveries and
be on hand for that.
Lastly, start with some smaller (less expensive/stuff you
don't care about) items and throw them up. Get your feet
wet and take it from there. Before you know it you'll be
thanking Al Gore for inventing eBay.
UA100

We (wife and I) prefer using our own server. At first it was the space with our
road runner account but it's 10 meg server /100 meg throughput limits too
inhibiting so I got StangII.com. 600 meg, 6 gig. Costs about $100/ year total.

You can sell anything, even broken stuff, with a honest description.

Look through http://alba.stangii.com (This is all Wife's stuff)
The only pictures not cropped are the ones where the item filled the file.

Wife was researching a Churchill Downs glass. came across one with a picture of
the glass in the horizontal. How freaking lazy can they get?
You don't always rotate 90. like this graphic:

http://alba.stangii.com/0529/12.JPG
If there is a problem, something's broken or even mildly damaged I document it
and take a picture, like the flea bite in this glass:

http://alba.stangii.com/0530/01a.JPG
It's the picture and thousand words saw (OBOT). I don't want to give anyone a
reason to feel they were deceived.
Consequently everyone's happy.

I assume everything posted is to be shipped. I had better be able to hoist it
onto a pallet or into a box on the back of the truck to get it to a terminal.

Wife works for the University, she looks through and by the recycle bin daily.
She gives boxes away.
Another hint: The Post Office gives away Priority Mail boxes and supplies.

Buy some smaller stuff, build feedback by buying.
Get a pay pal account.

Derivation of a Talibano/RNC disinformation. Widely known to be false
but preserved by some diehards.
Truth -> High Speed Computing Act
Helps all, even the RNC slimer crowd.
Why did you leave out your advice to end an ebay description with the
word "peace?"

Truth (part 1): Gore's exact words were "During my service in the United
States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." [CNN
interview with Wolf Blitzer, 9 Mar 1999]
Truth (part 2): Gore's first term in Congress began in 1977.
Truth (part 3): the internet has been around a LOT longer than that.
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
For a copy of my TrollFilter for NewsProxy/Nfilter,
send email to autoresponder at filterinfo-at-milmac-dot-com
You must use your REAL email address to get a response.

You beat me to the punch, Doug. Funny how people can claim something didn't
happen when we have it in Al's own words. I don't know which is better,
though...Al inventing the Internet or John Kerry "casting the deciding vote
on a bill that created 20 million jobs". If all John Kerry has to do is
cast a vote and create some jobs, what has he been doing the past few years?
Sandbagging the current administration? I say that Kerry should go cast
some more votes and create some more jobs, pronto.
todd

As has already been pointed out, Al said "During my service in the United
States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet". You wanna
split hairs on the difference in meaning between "invent" and "create"?
Now, do I think that even Al thinks he "invented" or "created" the Internet?
No...at least I hope not. It's just funny that as a politician, he has to
associate himself with something that most people think is a very positive
force. His words on their face are laughable. You really want to deny
that?

years?
Personally, when speaking of private sector jobs, I don't think any
politician "creates" jobs. They can make it easier or harder for businesses
to do so, but they can't create them. But you failed to answer my question.
If all Kerry has to do is cast a vote and create some jobs, why doesn't he
just do it again? Or is his campaign ad just a bunch of BS?

That's certainly the liberal party line. Excellent job being a parrot.
Unfortunately, the truth is just the opposite. Nearly every economic
indicator is positive, but you'd be hard-pressed to know it from listening
to the media. The Labor Department is about to announce that another
225,000 jobs were added in May, making the total jobs created in the last 3
months around 850,000. The index of Leading Economic Indicators has risen
12 of the past 13 months. The list goes on. Trust me...this election won't
be decided based on the state of the economy. You'd better just stick with
"Bush lied about Iraq", because you're not going to have anything else come
November.

with
come
We'll see. For any Bush "lie", I can find 5 Democrats that have said the
same thing. I think the election may turn on what kind of place Iraq is
come November. I'm sure the insurgents will do their best to keep it
destabilized. For us and for the Iraqis, I hope the transfer goes as
smoothly as possible and the new government functions as well as can be
expected. God bless anyone who took a position in the government, because
they might as well have painted a bullseye on themselves. I just hope that
Al Queda doesn't get the idea that the American people are as weak-spined as
the Spaniards.
todd

I don't doubt that. And I can find 4 more Republicans to fill out the ranks.
Except for the imminence of use of WMDs by Saddass, and the existence of masses
of WMDs in Iraq. That was a complete fabrication and originally the primary
justification for the US getting its tail in the current crack.
Charlie Self
"The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the
exercise of his mind." Jacques Barzun

the
ranks.
masses
primary
Fine Charlie. Here you go. You calling Hillary, Al Gore, John Kerry, and
Ted Kennedy liars, too? If you want to counter that all these people are
just puppets of the Bush administration, I think I'll have a hard time
believing that. The last I checked, there were a whole bunch of Democrats
on the various congressional intelligence committees. The *only* thing that
has changed between the time these statements were uttered and now is that
things in Iraq haven't gone the way we would like. So now, the below seek
to gain a political advantage from the situation and try to be on both sides
(I voted for the 87 billion before I voted against it - John Kerry). If we
believed everything below was true at the time, the question is only one of
the right response. Bush believed a military response was the way to go and
Congress approved it. But again, since things haven't gone as we would have
liked, Democrats want to make political hay.
"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal,
murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a
particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to
miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his
continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction
... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is
real..."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003
"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a
threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate
of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the
means of delivering them."
- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002
"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical
weapons throughout his country."
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to
deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in
power."
- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002
"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing
weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002
"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are
confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and
biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to
build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence
reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002
"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority
to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe
that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real
and grave threat to our security."
- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002
"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively
to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the
next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated
the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002
"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that
Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons
stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also
given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members
... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will
continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare,
and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002
"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam
Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for
the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."
- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002
todd

The evidence? "Facts" passed on by the various intelligence groups, and
misinterpreted by the adminstration.
I'm not going with this any more. You're not going to change my mind that Bush
is a straw man, propped up by Cheney and Cheney is one of the bigger thieves in
the world. And I don't see a chance of changing your mind.
So any further exchange is pointless.
Charlie Self
"The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the
exercise of his mind." Jacques Barzun

aggressively
the
destruction."
that
also
members
warfare,
Saddam
Bush
thieves in

I notice we've gone from "the President lied" to the administration
misinterpreting intelligence data. Looks like it was "misinterpreted" by a
lot of people on both sides of the aisle. But I guess in your mind, they
aren't culpable. I'd say this is a good time for you to bail out, too.
todd

Well, no. I was being generous, accepting the little Bush's interpretation. If
you want the honest truth, I think he lied like a rug and pushed like crazy for
the interpretations he got, which he then had presented as the ultimate truth.
Enough.
Charlie Self
"The test and the use of man's education is that he finds pleasure in the
exercise of his mind." Jacques Barzun

Bottom line: Dammit! I'm a Democrat! I've been a Democrat all my life!
None of the quotes you have posted above showing that *everyone*
misinterpreted the available intelligence data is going to make me change
my mind that Bush is not a lying sack of crud. I'm a Democrat and I'm not
going to change my mind!

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